NEW SITE ----> Go to http://www.miketnelson.com < -----for all my latest info a this site below is from about 5-8 years ago. Michael T Nelson, MS CSCS, RKC is a PhD
Candidate in Kinesiology (Exercise Physiology) at the U of MN and Fitness Consultant in White Bear Lake, MN. Ramblings here about research, training, nutrition, exercise phys, Z Health, joint mobility, and whatever else I want

Sunday, February 15, 2009

More Brain Science and BAHG

More brain science!

Wait, I thought this was a blog about athletic performance? I don't care about all this brain mumbo jumbo you say?

It is still all about athletic performance, but the future of advanced athletic performance is figuring out how the brain and nervous system allow you to perform at a higher level.

Remember the post the other day (click HERE if you forgot) that the brain is predictive! Keep this in mind when you watch the video below.

What is athletics at a high level? Of course physical performance is key, but a sports game has many many predictive properties to it. Who is fastest to the ball? How did he/she get their first?

2 waysPlayer A and player B (aren't I so creative with names!) Player A looks for the ball guy's reaction (by saying "ball guy" you can sub in your favorite sport there and get pissed at me for mentioning someone else) or Player B that can PREDICT (correctly of course) which direction the "ball guy" is going to go. My vote is on player B. Why would you spend so much time watching films to prepare for a big game? Now if we want to go to the ultimate level, combine speed AND predictive ability.

If the brain's main job is prediction, I bet we can train it! This is covered in Z Health S Phase (Sports Specific) certification also.

The video above is not your typical brain science video and is well worth a look. Note that this was originally from 2003, but I feel it is still valid.

BAHGMy buddy Brad "No Relation" Nelson at Kinetic Edge Performance and Brad Rants Blog talks about BAHG--Big Audacious Hairy Goals. If you are on my newsletter you know my goals for this year, but my new goal by Jan 2010 is to present on TED.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea (yet) how they select presenters or much really about the process at all. But I do know that they have some amazing presenters there. If anyone has any contacts or tips on how to make it happen, let me know.

One last thingHere is another great link where you can read the wiki page at the same time as the video